Putting Thoughts into Action: Implants Tap the Thinking Brain
From: Scientific American Mind - Oct/Nov 2008 - page 50
By: Alan S. Brown

Researchers are decoding the brain to give a voice and a hand to the
paralyzed - and to learn how it controls our movements 

Surgeons have implanted a novel neural prosthesis into a paralyzed patient’s
brain. The high-tech device enables the patient to communicate his thoughts
to a computer, which translates them into spoken words. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=putting-thoughts-into-action

Links:
Chips in Your Head
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=chips-in-your-head

Thinking Out Loud
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=thinking-out-loud

Cognitive and Neural Systems Speech Lab at Boston University
http://speechlab.bu.edu/prosthetics.php

Web site of Andrew Schwartz of the University of Pittsburgh
http://motorlab.neurobio.pitt.edu/

Rise of the Cyborgs
http://discovermagazine.com/2008/oct/26-rise-of-the-cyborgs/

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Putting Thoughts into Action: Implants Tap the Thinking Brain
From: Scientific American Mind
By: Alan S. Brown

Researchers are decoding the brain to give a voice and a hand to the
paralyzed—and to learn how it controls our movements 

Eight years ago, when Erik Ramsey was 16, a car accident triggered a brain
stem stroke that left him paralyzed. Though fully conscious, Ramsey was
completely paralyzed, essentially “locked in,” unable to move or talk. He
could communicate only by moving his eyes up or down, thereby answering
questions with a yes or a no.  

Ramsey's doctors recommended sending him to a nursing facility. Instead his
parents brought him home. In 2004 they met neurologist Philip R. Kennedy,
chief scientist at Neural Signals in Duluth, GA. He offered Ramsey the chance
to take part in an unusual experiment. Surgeons would implant a high-tech
device called a neural prosthesis into Ramsey's brain, enabling him to
communicate his thoughts to a computer that would translate them into spoken
words.  

Read the entire article at:
http://michealthoutomsun.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!C7D0E0F32A9583CB!698.entry

Links:
Scientists seek to help 'locked-in' man speak
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/12/14/locked.in/index.html?imw=Y&iref=mpstoryemail

Neural Signals, Inc.
http://www.neuralsignals.com/

The Unspeakable Odyssey of the Motionless Boy
http://www.esquire.com/features/unspeakable-odyssey-motionless-boy-1008

Out of silence, the sounds of hope
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/07/27/out_of_silence_the_sounds_of_hope/?page=full